Environmental innovation,trade openness and quality institutions: an integrated investigation about environmental sustainability

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Environmental degradation has become an important issue for countries worldwide due to increase in carbon emission in recent years. It is an important...     

A LUMPED APPROACH TO THE INVERSE PROBLEM IN GROUND WATER HYDROLOGY1

ABSTRACT: A solution procedure to solve the inverse problem in ground water, based on lumped approach, has been proposed. The method has the following advantages: 1) exact determination of the boundary conditions and the physical laws of flow through porous media is not required; 2) all errors of approximation in describing the boundary conditions, physical laws, and the aquifer properties are lumped into the surrogate parameters; and 3) the same mathematical model can be employed both in the identification process and in the subsequent management studies. The optimal values of the surrogate parameters are found by using a multidimensional unconstrained optimization code devised by Powell. The solution procedure and the convergence characteristics of the proposed algorithm have been illustrated by two hypothetical problems.     

The antischistosomal activity of substituted indoles

5-Bromoindole carboxylic acid and substituted indoles were administered parenterally to hamsters infected with an Egyptian strain of S. mansoni, to assess their antischistosomal activity. 5-Bromoindole showed a significant hepatic shift in 59 percent of treated hamsters. The results suggest that modification of the indole nucleus may produce a series of antischistosomal agents.     

A rough set-based quality function deployment (QFD) approach for environmental performance evaluation: a case of offshore oil and gas operations

Activities in offshore oil and gas (OOG) that cause environmental impacts can be systematically managed through an environmental management system (EMS). Environmental performance evaluation (EPE) is an essential part of an EMS. However, previous studies on EPE indicate that existing lists of indicators little insight into how indicators are modified to more accurately assess environmental performance.In this paper, a way is proposed to identify and define specific environmental performance indicators on a case-by-case basis, which consists of five steps: (1) describing environmental requirements; (2) determining favourable outcomes corresponding to the requirements; (3) identifying required activities or issues to achieve the outcomes; (4) searching for proper measures of the activities or issues; and (5) generating a list of key indicators. Based on these steps, a quality function deployment (QFD) approach is developed to determine key indicators and evaluate environmental performance. To handle uncertainties in QFD, the decision makers’ evaluations are quantified through rough numbers using the concept of rough sets. The outputs of the proposed approach are different environmental performance indices. Using these indices, decision makers can easily determine whether an improved performance has been achieved through an EMS. The proposed approach is transparent and promising for use as a unified tool for EPE. An application of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a numerical example.     

Regulating non-precious transition metal nitrides bifunctional electrocatalysts through surface/interface nanoengineering for air-cathodes of Zn-air batteries

Zn-air batteries (ZABs), especially the secondary batteries, have engrossed a great interest because of its high specific energy, economical and high safety. However, due to the insufficient activity and stability of bifunctional electrocatalysts for air-cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) processes, the practical application of rechargeable ZABs is seriously hindered. In the effort of developing high active, stable and cost-effective electrocatalysts, transition metal nitrides (TMNs) have been regarded as the candidates due to their high conductivity, strong corrosion-resistance, and bifunctional catalytic performance. In this paper, the research progress in TMNs-based material as ORR and OER electrocatalysts for ZABs is discussed with respect to their synthesis, chemical/physical characterization, and performance validation/optimization. The surface/interface nanoengineering strategies such as defect engineering, support binding, heteroatom introduction, crystal plane orientation, interface construction and small size effect, the physical and chemical properties of TMNs-based electrocatalysts are emphasized with respect to their structures/morphologies, composition, electrical conductivity, specific surface area, chemical stability and corrosion resistance. The challenges of TMNs-based materials as bifunctional air-cathode electrocatalysts in practical application are evaluated, and numerous research guidelines to solve these problems are put forward for facilitating further research and development.     

Separation and remediation of environmental pollutants using metal–organic framework-based tailored materials

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a polymer hybrid family of compounds comprising metal ions that have been deliberately incorporated in...